Coroner
History The nucleus of Coroner – Markus Edelmann, Roland Broder and Thomas Vetterli – began as roadies for Celtic Frost. They would later record their Death Cult demo in 1985 with Celtic Frost’s Tom Gabriel Fischer handling vocals, which led to a record contract with Noise International Inc. and the release of their debut of R. I. P. in 1987. Unfortunately, even though it received decent reviews in the metal press, it did not sell well and a tour with M. O. D. to help promote it was cancelledKerrang! magazine, issue #204. Coroner would then go on to release several more albums, each sounding a little bit different than the previous, as their second album of Punishment for Decadence had a fuller sound than their debut; No More Color had the clearest sound yet, Mental Vortex had a mechanical sound for the most part, and Grin had longer songs than usual, incorporating many styles other than thrash and death metal as well. Unfortunately conflicts had arisen within the band, as Vetterli once called Noise Records a “terrible label” to try to deal with, as they kept on giving the band different stories at times (on nearly a daily basis, it seemed) in regards to touring and all, which almost destroyed the band members’ friendships. Edelmann left the band for Tom Gabriel Fischer’s group Apollyon Sun after the release of Grin, which studio drummer Peter Haas was brought in to play drums for the new songs that would be included on their final release of the self-titled Coroner album, having their greatest hits, a remix, a live track, and new songs. The band had already broken up before its release, but they completed the album to fulfill their contract with Noise Records and later made one final tour, selling The Unknown Unreleased Tracks 1985-95 on cassette only at the shows. Years apart Edelamnn only played shortly with Apollyon Sun, along with becoming involved in some non-metal projects such as Baked Boy Scouts and Spoo. Broder worked in his father’s paint store and for a company that installed locks, and Vetterli made a demo called Clockwork for a solo album that was never released, along with playing in Kreator for a short time, opening up his own recording studio and playing some live shows with his wife in the band 69 Chambers. Reformation? Coroner was asked by a promoter to appear at a metal show in Chicago in 2005Blabbermouth site, which by June Edelmann had met with the other two members, saying there would be no reunion, as the only things that they liked to "reheat" was "spaghetti sauce"E-mail from Edelmann, http://coroner.awardspace.us/latenews.htm. By 2010 though, it was announced that they would play the Hellfest Open Air Festival on June 18, 2011, which the band started rehearsing for the first time in ages, as Edelmann and Broder had not played in years at the time. The band will be touring as well, although it is currently unknown if they will record and release another album. Releases, albums *R. I. P (1987) *Punishment for Decadence (1988) *No More Color (1989) *Mental Vortex (1991) *Grin (1993) *Coroner (1995) *Death Cult (1996 bootleg) *The Unknown Unreleased Tracks 1985-95 (1996) Releases, singles *Sudden Fall/Purple Haze 12" (1988) Releases, video *No More Color Tour '90 video (1990) Releases, miscellaneous, compilations/videos *Doomsday News (1988; unreleased “Arrogance in Uniform” track) *Doomsday News 2 (1989; unreleased “Hate, Fire, Blood" track) *Doomsday News Cutting Edge Metal (1989; “Masked Jackal” video) *Doomsday News III: Thrashing East Live (1990; live versions of “D. O. A.”, “Read My Scars”, “Absorbed”) *Hard 'n Heavy Thrash Metal Speed Special (1990; interview with the band and parts of their “Masked Jackal” video) *12 Years in NOISE: Metal & Beyond... (1996; includes “Purple Haze”, “I Want You (She's So Heavy)”, “Der Mussolini” tracks) *Power of Metal: 20 Years in Noise (2003; includes “Reborn Through Hate” track) *Brütal Legend video game for Xbox and PlayStation 3 (2009; includes "Skeleton on Your Shoulder" track) Personnel *Roland Broder (credited as Ron Royce)–bass, vocals *Thomas Vetterli (credited as Tommy T. Baron)–guitar, backup vocals *Markus Edelmann (credited as Marquis Marky)–drums Trivia *The band members’ real names were only revealed once in the liner notes of the Doomsday News release; for all of their albums and video, their stage names were used. *The band’s symbol is a “cow skull” that repeats (see infobox photo), as it can be looked at in three different angles. This would be a recurring theme, as a wheel with three skeleton hands would be included as artwork in the inlay of their No More Color album, a circular saw wheel in Mental Vortex, and a repeating handgun picture in Grin, as well as it being on the cd itself (probably in regards to the lyrics of “peace means to reload a gun” on the title track). *Concert footage and interviews of the band was shot in the early 1990s that, by 2011, have yet to be released, as the band were unhappy with the release of the No More Color Tour '90 videoVol. 35, #12, December, 1991 issue of Metal Maniacs magazine interview with Coroner. References